Sir Robert McAlpine appointed on £72.6 million upgrade of mental health services in Northumberland

Sir Robert McAlpine has been selected as the design and construction delivery partner on the £72.6m CEDAR (Care Environment Development and Re-provision) upgrade programme for the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW).

The CEDAR programme includes:

• Northgate: the creation of a new integrated mental health and learning disability medium-secure centre of excellence at Northgate Hospital, Morpeth;
• Ferndene: the reconfiguration of the award-winning children and young people’s mental health and learning disability Ferndene Unit at Prudhoe;
• Bamburgh: the reconfiguration and re-provision of mental health adult acute inpatient services for Newcastle and Gateshead at St Nicholas Hospital’s Bamburgh Unit in Gosforth.

Procured through the Pagabo framework for major capital works, construction at the Northgate and Ferdene hospitals is already underway. 

At Northgate, the new medium secure centre will facilitate the best in mental health provision for patients in the region, whilst remodelling of the Ferndene young people’s mental health and learning disability unit at Prudhoe will see the conversion of two wards to medium secure standards.

The works are due to be completed by December 2022 in order to start welcoming patients early 2023. 

On completion of the Northgate and Ferndene projects, work at the Bamburgh Clinic, located at St Nicholas Hospital in Gosforth, will commence. This involves the remodelling and extension of the existing building.

The work is being delivered through a project partnership with design team Medical Architecture, Cad 21 and BGP.

John Carson, Head of Capital Developments & Planning, NTW Solutions, CNTW, said: “these exciting projects mark just the latest in a long line of service innovations and investment in the Trust’s buildings to ensure that our service users have access to safe, high quality care, and demonstrate the Trust’s commitment to collaborative partnership working as the route to the best results.”

Stuart McArthur, Healthcare Sector Lead, Sir Robert McAlpine, commented: “We are delighted to be the design and construction delivery partner on these great projects, which demonstrate the strength of our relationship with CNTW NHS Foundation Trust. Working with an outstanding team of specialists, we look forward to delivering facilities that will support healthcare excellence for the benefits and welfare of all service users.”